Avatar Definitely Worth a Watch
March 9th 2010 by admin in Movies 0 commentsJames Cameron does not make a ton of films, but when he does; he does it right. Any director can make a bunch of movies, with a few that turn out to be exceptional. Cameron seems to focus on quality over quantity, and in my mind that makes him one of the most successful movie directors of his time. Titanic will always remain his crowning achievement. Avatar is a very close second.
The film takes place on a moon known as Pandora in the year 2154. Humans have come to this moon to mine a precious mineral known as unobtanium. The name is hilarious in my mind, unobtanium. We have gone there to obtain a mineral who’s name suggests unobtainability. Clever. This moon, Pandora, is inhabited by a race of beings known as the Navi. They are much larger than humans, we look like only children when standing next to one of them. They are a less advanced race as far as technology goes. We get the impression throughout the film that they are more in tune with nature than they are with technology, which explains why they appear to be less advanced. Money seems to be the driving force behind technology. Without money, one has to wonder how far we would have come technology wise. The main premise is that we are there for unobtanium and the Navi are in the way.
One of the villages happens to be under a giant tree that is growing over the largest deposit of the mineral anywhere on the planet. The mining company has contracted with the military to relocate the indigenous population so that they can begin mining operations. The Navi, however are not willing to leave. Humans have engineered Navi bodies mixed with human DNA. The DNA of a human used in each body is specific so that the body can only be used by the donor of that DNA. The human who donated the DNA can go into a machine and be linked to the Navi body. The humans use these Navi-human ( called Avatars) hybrid bodies to try and gain the trust of the Navi people.